by Zelda Knight
Lillian stared at him, blinking rapidly, before bursting into laughter. Three weeks? An entire month had almost passed since she fainted from the news of them becoming fated mates to an oversized rabbit.
"You're joking," she stated, not wanting to entertain wherever he was going with the strange topic at hand.
"I'm not. See for yourself." He leaned forward, and despite herself, Lillian found herself blushing. He felt like a stranger now, dangerous yet familiar in a way he shouldn't anymore.
His robe shifted a bit, and Lillian was confused to see that the white rabbit head at the center of his chest was nearly grey. When she finally came to her senses, blocked in by his chest, she could feel something behind her head.
Her neck craned to the side as Jong-hyun pulled away. She could do little more than gasp when she saw twenty-two notches carved into the trunk of the tree, realizing Jong-hyun had carved the twenty-second when he leaned her way.
"Th-that's..." she stammered.
"Impossible? I know. I thought you were dead, or the Red Strings of Fate put you in a coma! Master Ying Yue said it was the... composition of your body? Something about your ancestral magic resisting him since the Solar Rabbit Clan has been separated from him for so long." Lillian shook her head as he spoke, covering her ears, none of it making any sense to her.
"Where is he? Where's Yuèguāng or Ying Yue Jiang or whatever the hell he's calling himself!” she nearly screamed, denial transforming quickly into rage and determination.
"Wait!" Jong-hyun called out to her as she sprung to her feet and started running.
Deep down she knew she couldn't catch up with a god, wherever he was hiding, if he was hiding at all. And what would she do when she faced him? Scream her head off at him and get it magically snatched away, so she was rendered mute? But reason wasn't what was flowing through her veins as she crashed through the sunflower maze.
Trapped in a parallel world with a mad god, a gangster crow, and his apprentice, she thought she could rely on Jong-hyun. Now that she was virtually alone, all Lillian could do was rage against fate.
"Ying Yue! Ying Yue! Come out this instant!" she screamed, hearing the stampede of footsteps behind her as she picked up her pace.
Jong-hyun was faster, stronger, and well-trained. But she was desperate, angry, and hell-bent on getting her way. All that combined with a beauty rest that seemed to rejuvenate every bone and muscle in her body meant Lillian was holding her own against her bodyguard.
She kept crying out for the rabbit god to reveal himself when suddenly he did just that, appearing in front of her as she slammed into his back. Lillian flew backward and into the awaiting arms of Jong-hyun, who huffed and puffed as if he weren't used to extreme exercising like a sprint.
Yuèguāng turned towards the duo, his red eyes a glow. It was only then, through the haze of emotion clouding her young mind, that Jong-hyun's eyes had glowed amber. She chalked it up to the strangeness of the Realm of the Divine, but it was strange that he would react so strongly to otherworldly magic when she seemed perfectly fine.
"Fated," the god said, voice low, stern, and clear, "I am glad your body has finally adjusted to the Nine-Tail Moon. Why have you summoned me back? I have much to do and little time to do it."
Nine-Tail Moon? She wondered what that meant. The place they were in looked nothing like the surface of the moon. But then she thought, why would it? They were in the same dimension, after all.
"Look, I don't really care either way. But please, please listen to me. I know you said marriage would be your gift to us in exchange for saving you–" Ying Yue waved his hand in the air as if to silence her.
"Marriage is but part of the package, the natural choice between fated mates and a peaceful means to unite the clan. What I offer is immortality in exchange for preserving my own." He opened his palms, hands having rested by his sides, balled into fist.
Jong-hyun clutched Lillian's shoulders as she shook. From his palms first formed a large blue lily which blossomed and out popped a pearl. It was large and beautiful, shining so brightly she thought they'd all go blind. A crack ran from end to end, and a clear substance leaked from it, sparkling like a diamond under the light.
"What...is that?" she whispered.
"What Ju-long stole and the Solar Rabbit Clan foolishly thought to exchange for my life. What Bijoux dared try to steal and failed. This is the cultivated magic of the Jiang Rabbit Clan's magic. I supposed humans would call it a source of immortality. Drink the pearl's nectar and gain the secrets of our arts," he whispered, folding his hands as it disappeared in a shaft of white light.
Then it clicked, and Lillian fell to her knees. Jong-hyun followed her to the ground, still obedient, even though his true nature had been revealed. "Aunt Bijoux... Did Ju-long kill Aunt Bijoux!?"
Ying Yue glanced down at them, now dressed head to toe in white robes with golden embroidery. He looked rather regal, and infinitely wiser. "No... If what Old Crow's discipline has gathered is true. Her fate now lies in the hands of her husbands, but it is unnatural that she still lives. She's on borrowed time. The Holy Fox Flame should have consumed her and her soul."
Lillian shook her head, even more confused by his explanation. Holy flames and mystical pearls didn't matter to her. She just wanted to know if her aunt was still breathing.
"Lillian, no, Li-Lang," Jong-hyun murmured, scooting to the side, so they were shoulder to shoulder. "Please trust in Master Yuèguāng to solve this problem. At first, I had to pretend, to keep up appearances. But I have utter faith in him to right this wrong."
"Oh, please!" she spat. "Why should I trust you or him? All you've done is lie to me my entire life, and he's more worried about some stupid string when Aunt Bijoux could be dead!"
"Don't turn your anger on him, Li-Lang! It is I who sent Jong-hyun. To watch over the next generation and find a way forward toward reunification." Lillian was taken aback, turning towards him and looking at him with new eyes.
When she really thought about it, they had been childhood friends, but she knew little about him. He had appeared one day by her side, around the age of nine, and she'd been told he was training to be a part of her personal guard. But even back then they had all marveled at his accomplishments, and the way things came so easily to him. Was it because he wasn't human at all, but a demi-god?
She turned back to Ying Yue, beaming down at them both with gentle eyes. "Fate is fickle. Destiny unwritten until it appears. Who knew I would send one of my disciplines and he'd return as my fated mate, alongside you, my girl. But I see now Jong-hyun–as you call yourself these days–I see now that more time is needed. Continue to watch over Li-Lang in my temporal absence as I get my affairs in order in our realm."
"Yes, master," Jong-hyun murmured, bowing towards the god.
Lillian’s mouth flopped like a fish out of water as the eldest among them continued, "I've sent an emissary to see what happened at Ju-long Towers, and if there's any way, I can help your... Aunt? And your mistress. A god always returns their favor. If not for her, centuries of my clan's cultivated magic would have been in the hands of a madman, and I would have probably died. Don't worry. My mission now is to join our mortal clan together and have my fated mates’ rule by my side. I have sent Old Crow to my allies' palace to see if Asuka's investigation proves correct, and if so, how I can help. The gift of immortality cannot be given to an empty vessel, after all. But I know we can find a way to save your aunt and spare my in-laws more needless suffering."
Chapter Fifteen
BO CHANG
“What can we do, co-fated, when faced with a body without a soul, to infuse with our strength?" Bo asked, the question largely rhetorical.
He glanced over at Toshi and Min-joon, who contemplated their own riddle that seemed to have no hidden answer. Bo couldn't blame them for the twin looks of despair slowly morphing their faces. He gazed out at their realm, standing in the reception hall where they’d rushed to their fated mate’s near lifeless body toward
s their bedchamber nearly a month ago.
“We've played a game with our beloved Bijoux, to pass the time and give ourselves time since she loves a challenge. But it seems we've run out of time." Toshi was right, and Bo Chang hated to admit it was true.
Toshi had pulled off what should have been impossible, saving a soul and a body from the Holy Fox Flame of the goddess. He'd even lost his cultivated magic in the process, unable to return to earth for at least another hundred years, only able to hold on to his human form thanks to the energy that freely flowed between all three.
But Toshi losing his immortality was but a bump in the road if they could implore the divine god of their moon, Yuèguāng, to share some of her immortal nectar and hasten the cultivation process. But what could any of them do with a mortal woman whose soul was set to expire with the next full moon?
"Maybe we can beg for nectar from the Eternal Lunar Pearl," Toshi offered, visibly distressed by the situation.
"We could, but would it even work?" Min-joon countered, "One has to have a soul to become immortal. Sarah's is waning faster with each passing hour. We thought if we bound ourselves to her in marriage it could help, and it should at least stop the process but..."
“If we had collectively, and unnaturally extended her life by raising her to goddesshood,” Bo Chang began, “wouldn’t it make sense that it could preserve her soul forever? Why would she die before our eyes so many times only to slip away forever this time around, so arbitrarily?”
"It does, in theory, but even we didn't know her soul would have withered this much so fast. It's like the cultivation process but in reverse. How much magic would she need to stabilize? She may become something... other than immortal, like a wandering ghost."
All three men fell silent, considering Min-joon's point. At first, they'd been so sure of themselves, guiding her into the bed, and waiting for those magic words so that their gift would hold. They could force it on her, but an unwilling soul would fight even the most prized possession in both realms–eternal life.
But now they weren't so sure. Sarah had declined rapidly after the rejection, going downhill like a car crashing over the side of a cliff as the full moon approached. Even if they could force her to accept goddesshood, would it be enough?
Probably not, Bo Change had to admit to himself, which would mean regular infusions from the Eternal Lunar Pearl. And there's no way Yuèguāng would accept that, being the last member of the Jiang Lunar Dynasty in charge of the pearl. Until he's mated and has brought forth a new generation of heirs, we're pushing our luck trying to speed up Toshi's cultivation.
Then what options remained? Bo Chang began to wander, and his co-fated followed closely. He still remembered when he had marked Suyin, a young woman from a poor family with the gift of fortune-telling, and he in the guise of a wealthy merchant. He had come into immortality at least a century prior and had grown bored with living the life of a prince and general, merchant and peasant, longing for the opportunity to rise to the true ranks of the divine.
Their passion had been palpable and forbidden back then, when he was so ignorant. He had marked her so their souls would be bound through each reincarnation, forcing the God of Fate, Yuè Lǎo, to forge their bond least he makes a mockery of the gods and kill her true fated lover.
His mark had been a curse rather than a blessing, and Bo Chang couldn't help but realize he had set the whole cosmic chain of misfortune into action. Suyin, as he knew her back then, had foreseen her fate–annihilation. She was not meant to reincarnate, and never destined to be his goddess. But he'd made a mockery of the gods, and now they were making a mockery of him and his co-fated in return.
What use is immortality and all the power in the world if I can't save the one I love?
“Have you ever heard of one being bound to three? Of gods fated to a mortal woman? Of achieving eternity without merit?” Min-joon’s string of questions were rhetorical once more.
“Old Crow?” Bo Change asked, genuinely confused why he had visited.
He paused in front of Sarah's hall, flanked by Min-joon and Toshi, having walked there by instinct. He wasn't expecting to see the mobster there, especially so close to Bijoux's bed. He'd been there to witness their humiliation when Sarah not only solved their last riddle, but rejected them in bed.
But he didn't seem ready to gloat about winning their personal bet that Sarah would never say "I do." It had been a long time since they'd placed that bet. Around the time Sarah and Bo Chang had broken up. No, there was something strange about his aura. The way he stood blocking the entrance to Bijoux's inner palace.
Had she let him in?
"I come on Yuèguāng authority this time, old friends." All men tensed at that, Bo visibly furious. It was one thing to ask for entrance, and another for Yuèguāng to use his rank to barge into their private quarters.
"What does he want with our fated mate?" Toshi roared, held back by Min-joon's and Bo's twin tails.
"Well, he wants Bijoux," Old Crow quipped, flapping his wings as his three legs shuffled.
“Why?”
"Nothing bad, I assure you. He's indebted to her is all!" Old Crow tutted, beak clacking hard. "But who's to say he won't banish her to the void if he can't recover her soul. You know his job is trifold: manage the affairs of the clan on Earth to receive tribute, keep our moon spinning, and act as the ultimate judge for immortal affairs. He can't have a wraith running around, don't you think? It would upset the natural order of things."
Not a second passed between his last statement and a massive wave of energy shooting from the eldest and youngest fox god's tails. He were beyond enraged at the thought of Yuèguāng deciding their fated mate's fate, when her fate line was nearly severed as it was. They needed time, not judgment, to solve what could be done about her withering soul.
Old Crow, for his part, fought back with a wave of his shimmering black and gray feathers, a wave of pure purple energy countering the fox duo. But it didn't hold for long, for they were both immortal beings. But Old Crow had been tainted by the mortal realm for too long. He was knocked back, slamming against the doors separating Bijoux from her harem.
"Ever heard about not shooting the got damn messenger!" Old Crow wailed as Toshi leaped forward and descended on him as a fox. He clawed at his face and wings, and Bo had to flash forward to stop him.
“Then they shouldn't come looking for trouble!” Bo Chang stated as he pulled Toshi away and sealed Old Crow to the door.
They'd lost control of their dominion, and their petty fight was distracting them from their ultimate mission: save Sarah from final judgement from the gods.
Chapter Sixteen
MIN-JOON
“That damn crow and some damn demi-god has kidnapped her!" Min-joon barely had time to transform back into a human as he, Toshi, and Bo Chang leaped from a window in their palace towards the courtyard.
The whole structure levitated mid-air, supported by a cumulonimbus cloud. The vertical giant upheld their slice of the Divine Realm. Now it rocked with lightning and thunder and hail as their emotions got the better of them. For there would be hell to pay for stealing their fated mate!
"What demi-god?" Bo Chang wailed over the tumultuous weather, shaking the palace so hard fox statues slid from their pillars and shattered on the ground. "And why would Yuèguāng send them? Have we not been loyal to him? Does he not respect the goddess anymore to decide her fate for us?"
All of what the eldest fox god asked could not be answered just yet. There was no rhyme or reason to the action of the elemental order of gods, meant to keep both realms in perfect harmony. Their actions could only be vaguely divined by ascendant beings such as them. But Yuèguāng and the Goddess went back over a millennium, before she left the palace to join the Council of Fire. They were the keepers of her memory, the last ascendant fox gods to remain in the House of Nine Foxes as others ventured to the human realm or lost their immortality because of folly.
"There!" Min-joon wailed, watchin
g as a cloaked figure whisked Bijoux away toward the portal leading to the Nine-Tailed Moon.
They wouldn't allow him to reach it, even if it cost them all their immortality, for the Guardian had supreme power in his realm. They could fight, but could they win against a literal commander of water and light?
It was doubtful. But just like it was usually a good bet to bet on Bijoux, her fated mates weren't ones to back down no matter the odds.
"Toshi! Fall back and support our flames," he demanded, and Toshi obliged.
The kidnapper may be part human, according to Old Crow himself, but Toshi couldn't afford to be hit with a killing blow. Bo Chang and Min-joon closed ranks, forming a triangle formation. They chanted, summoning the goddess' will, and began sealing the portal.
It was nearly shut tight when the figure turned. Sarah very much alive and fighting. "Get the fuck off of your wannabe ninja! I let go and put me the fuck down!"
That's the Sarah he was used to, who cursed like a sailor and never knew when she should hold back and know her limits. He would have grinned if not for the utterly dangerous position she was in.
"Who are you?" he growled as the half-breed took a fighting stance, holding Sarah around her waist beside him like she was a sack of potatoes.
Old Crow? Min-joon thought. How had he broken our seal?
He received his answer in the form of another gust of wind, so strong he thought a tornado would carry them away. Around his bejeweled ankles was a new addition, lunar pearls. They were not the Eternal Lunar Pearl, but they held within them the moon god's energy.
"Asuka! Go! You cannot take on all three of the fox gods and leave her uninjured," a voice wailed from above.
A gust of wind knocked them all back, but knocked Asuka back much further, closer to the rapidly sealing portal. He pulled Sarah tight to his chest as she kicked and screamed and hit, and phased through with her in his arms, disappearing from their sight.
